o 


o 


RVBAIYAT 


LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Gl  FT    OF 


Rubaiyat  of  Cheerfulness 


il 

1Lt*4m 

RUBAIYAT 
OF  CHEER 
FULNESS 


BY  LUKE  NORTH,  ON 
THE  GOLDEN  PRESS 
LOS  ANGELES 
CALIFORNIA  :  NINETEEN 
HUNDRED  SEVEN 


COPYRIGHT   1907 
by  G.   D.    GRIFFES 


J  *•- 

/ 

(UNIVERSITY 

THESE  quatrains  are  offered  less  as  poetry 
than  as  truth — my  vision  of  truth.  It  may 
not  be  important  for  the  world  to  have  my 
vision,  yet  being  by  trade  a  pensmith,  I  set  forth 
my  wares  with  scant  modesty,  assured  that  while 
the  world  may  neglect  some  things  it  would  be  the 
wiser  for  heeding,  it  is  well  able  to  protect  itself 
from  that  which  it  does  not  need,  or  like.  The 
quatrain  habit  is  easier  to  acquire  than  to  abandon, 
&  I  am  not  without  the  consciousness  that  possi- 
bly the  world's  debt  of  gratitude  to  me  shall  begin 
only  when  I  am  strong  to  relinquish.  Verily  could 
I  wish  for  more  grace  of  form  in  these  verses,  & 
yet  were  I  capable  of  so  enriching  them,  I  should 
be  unwilling  to  sacrifice  the  directness  &  clarity 
with  which  I  have  labored  to  endow  them.  As  to 
the  truth  of  them  (my  truth)  I  am  the  best  judge, 
&  because  I  know  them  to  contain  (my)  truth  do 
I  offer  them  with  confidence.  They  do  not  present 
all  (my)  truth — barely  the  basis  of  it.  Truth,  I 
think,  is  two  things:  The  Law  that  regulates  the 
multiplication  table,  &  the  deepest,  biggest,  widest 
view  of  that  Law  as  we  contact  it  at  every  instant 
of  life,  that  each  human  being  can  secure  for  him- 
self. In  the  latter,  personal,  sense  truth  is  whatever 
best  explains  life  &  enables  one  to  relate  himself 
to  the  Whole.  Gloom  restricts  the  view,  Cheerful- 
ness widens  it,  therefore  these  RUBAIYAT  OF 

CHEERFULNESS 


173692 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 


Why  should  the  Way  of  Things  be  dark  and  sad: 
Why  choose  the  Stygian  paths  and  Gloom  for  God- 
While  Nature's  ev'ry  mood  reveals  that  man 
Alone  hath  lost  the  art  of  being  glad? 

2 

I  cannot  think  that  man  is  but  the  sport 
Of  elements  that  wantonly  distort 

His  fitful  efforts  to  be  great  and  wise  — 
Or  God  in  human  misery  finds  sport! 

3 

It  is  not  true  that  throes  of  human  pain 
Make  mirthful  holidays  for  gods  that  reign 

O'er  elements  that  now  disport  with  man, 
As  man  plays  fast  and  loose  with  Law,  for  gain. 


RVBAIYAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

4 

Filosofies  are  wove  of  human  skill, 
And  in  the  weaving  each  his  own  sweet  will 
May  please.  No  static  right  hath  any  ism 
The  Joy  of  Life  by  subtleties  to  kill. 

5 

It  is  the  fruitage  of  an  addled  brain, 
That  view  of  life  which  brings  the  tears  and  pain, 
Which  seeing  but  the  shape  of  things,  mistakes 
The  Wine  Cup  for  the  Cheer  it  doth  contain. 

6 

Come,  weave  your  web  of  life  when  cup  is  full, 
While  hope  runs  high  and  heart  is  merciful 

Toward  all  that  live:   nor  wait  satiety's 
Brown  taste  and  night's  dark  shadows  fanciful. 


[7] 


RVBAIYAT      OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

7 

Let  Heart  Light  delve  into  the  mystery  deep, 
And  Reason  wait  on  Love,  her  faith  to  keep: 

Her  place  to  segregate  delusion  from 
The  truth:  not  hers  behind  the  veil  to  peep. 

8 

The  God  I  worship  needs  no  priest  profound 
His  laws  for  mortal  welfare  to  expound, 

But  writes  them  large  on  all  his  handiwork  — 
'T  is  human  subtleties  that  men  confound. 


Come  read  your  Book  of  Life  in  Nature's  laws, 
And  seek  her  meaning  of  whatever  clause 

Seems  made  for  grief  and  leads  to  unbelief 
That  God  is  Love  and  Love  the  primal  Cause. 


[83 


RVBAJYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 


10 


Eternal  mystery! — that  question  "Why?" 
The  human  heart  in  Joy  may  yet  descry: 
The  lover's  ecstacy,  the  artist's  mood, 
At  very  portals  of  the  ALL  may  lie! 


1 1 


If  God  is  true  and  Nature's  ways  are  right, 
No  bar  there  is  on  range  of  human  sight, 

No  bar  save  that  which  human  indolence 
Hath  forg'd.  'T  is  creed  and  fear  shut  out  the  Light. 


12 


And  tho  the  ultimate  I  cannot  know, 

If  I  can  see  the  Law  by  which  men  grow, 

By  which  the  tares  to  wheat  and  tears  to  peace 
Are  turn'd;  if  I  can  see  the  steps  and  know 


RVBAIYAT      OF 


That  harmony  is  ever  Nature's  way, 

That  sorrow's  veil  but  hides  a  brighter  day; 

If  I  can  reason  out  the  heart's  desire 
And  correlate  the  thorns  that  line  the  way; 

H 

If  I  can  glimpse  the  Gen'ral  Plan,  and  see 
How  Love  and  Justice  can  omniscient  be; 
How  Mercy  lurks  in  ev'ry  sin  and  pain 
And  wisdom  comes  thru  grief  and  agony; 

15 

If  I  can  see  the  Law's  fruition  HERE! 
(My  trust  is  scant  on  doubtful,  distant  sphere) 

Why  then  for  me  the  way  of  life  is  not 
So  drear;  the  path  of  Cheerfulness  is  clear. 


[10] 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

16 

'T  is  Western  sun  that  blinds  the  Inner  Sight 
And  shades  the  poetry  of  life  with  night 

Of  Science  and  sensation's  narrow  view. 
Look  to  the  East,  O  men  of  hope,  for  Light ! 

i? 

Take  from  the  East  its  light  on  Nature's  Way. 
Throw  out  its  weeds  of  creed  and  sad  array 

Of  Oriental  myth  and  fantasy. 
But  light  comes  from  the  East,  I  say. 

18 

Thus  East  and  West  agree:   The  Whole  unfolds; 
Brahma  breathes  out;  the  universe  unrolls 

Its  scroll  of  evolutionary  law, 
And  Mind  begets  whatever  Life  beholds. 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

'9 
But  Western  law  is  cruel,  blind,  and  cold, 

Its  man  a  wanton  toy,  a  plastic  mold 

Of  clay  shap'd  by  some  ruthless  Potter's  hand 
That  shook — forbidding  Soul  Its  life  unfold. 

20 

In  Eastern  Law  the  God  of  Love  I  find, 
Compassionate  to  sin  of  humankind; 

And  pointing  how  and  where  adjustment  comes 
And  never  fails!   ALL-SEEING  Law — not  blind! 


In  cyclic  law  of  growth  and  change  of  form, 
To  which  mankind,  the  stars,  and  tides  conform, 

The  reason  of  the  Way  of  Things  you'll  find  — 
How  Nature  doth  her  miracles  perform. 


RVBAIYAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 


22 

Give  time  and  depth  and  scope  to  human  life, 
Nor  dwarf  its  Days  to  three-score  years  of  strife 

On  this  grim  battle-field  with  anger,  hate 
And  passion's  blinding  mists,  alas,  so  rife! 

23 

Why  all  its  agonies,  its  pains,  and  tears, 
Its  seeds  of  effort  and  its  with'ring  years 

On  lessons  but  half  learn'd  and  work  but  hah 
Perform'd — if  death  translates  to  other  spheres? 

24 

All  nature  writes  the  answer  bold  and  clear  — 
The  theatre  of  human  life  is  HERE! 

Death's  but  a  Sleep  between  the  Days  of  Life: 
Man  reaps  where  he  hath  sown — the  harvest's  here! 


[13] 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

25 

Where  ripens  wheat  that 's  sown  on  fallow  soil  ? 
Do  demon  gods  conspire  to  cheat  men's  toil  — 

To  move  the  harvest  field  o'er  Night — bring  wrack 
And  ruin  to  all  the  human  sweat  and  moil? 

26 

Where  bursts  the  acorn  thru  its  horny  pod, 
On  distant  Mars,  or  in  the  forest  sod 

Of  planet  where  it  fell  ?   How  reason  ye, 
That  man  allegiance  bears  to  foreign  God  ? 

27 

The  Rose  thou  mournest  when  its  petals  fall 
Ensouls  the  bud  that  bursts  at  Nature's  call : 

And  in  the  glory  of  the  new  the  Sap 
And  Essence  of  the  old  our  eyes  enthrall ! 


[H] 


RVBAIYAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

28 

'T  is  but  the  form  that  dies  and  not  the  Soul : 
The  Essence  of  the  Rose  pervades  the  Whole. 

The  Jar  is  broken,  but  the  Wine  flows  on ! 
Let  not  the  heart's  best  love  rest  on  the  Bowl. 

29 

And  all  this  loveliness  shall  reappear: 
The  selfsame  Roses  of  the  yesteryear, 

With  vesture  new  and  perfume  fresh  from  Sleep 
And  Rest — not  on  some  other  sphere,  but  here! 

3° 
For  man  on  earth  is  not  a  Transient  Guest ! 

Nor  brief,  nor  easy  to  attain,  his  quest 

Of  that  lost  Grail  of  Human  Brotherhood, 
Which  once  regained  brings  man  the  Alkahest. 


( 

N^u 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

3* 
Nor  all  your  longings  for  another  sphere 

Shall  set  aside  the  Law  that  chains  you  here, 

Till  men  shall  make  of  earth  a  paradise, 
And  win  the  right  to  win  another  sphere. 


On  Golden  Strands  of  Human  Brotherhood 
Shall  man  mount  upward  to  a  higher  good  — 

To  other  worlds  and  shapes  unknown.  Till  then 
Man's  place  is  here;  his  task  the  Common  Good. 

33 

'T  is  but  the  outer  sheath  of  man  that  dies  — 
As  lovers'  vows  expire  and  summer  flies. 

What  hell-born  instinct  prompts  the  selfish  wish 
The  permanence  of  form  to  realize? 


[16] 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

34 

Or  finds  in  Nature's  gentle  law  of  change 
Inherent  gloom?   How  then  the  world  arrange  — 
Or  build  the  flower  of  gold,  or  glass,  or  stone? 
For  basalt  blocks  the  human  flesh  exchange? 

35 
Stones  perish  not,  nor  call  for  shallow  tear 

Dropt  in  the  wine  cup  or  the  foaming  beer. 

Save  tears  for  real  woes,  and  bless  the  Law 
That  brings  the  Permanent  new  garb  each  year. 

36 

Unchanging  form  would  make  of  earth  a  hell 
And  beauty's  fairest  shapes  would  yearn  to  sell 

Their  hopes  of  Paradise  for  change  of  garb — 
If  buttercups  were  cast  of  hardened  shell. 


RVBAIYAT      OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

37 

O,  ye  of  little  faith — yet  faith  too  much! 
Who  lean  on  man-made  creed  as  on  a  crutch, 

And  fail  to  see  in  Nature's  ev'ry  way, 
Of  Love  and  Justice  the  Supernal  touch! 

38 

O,  ye  of  little  faith — yet  faith  too  great! 
Who  would  the  law  of  life  and  death  translate; 

Yet  fail  to  read  "between  the  lines,"  nor  let 
The  Inner  Glow  the  scroll  illuminate ! 

39 
O,  ye  who  would  set  bar  on  human  sight! 

And  circumscribe  man's  range  of  Cosmic  Light 

Within  the  narrow  arc  of  sev'nty  years, 
And  with  the  grave  his  strife  and  hope  requite ! 


[i  8] 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

40 

O,  ye  who  fix  your  hearts  on  form  and  flesh, 
Or  with  false  lights  of  wealth  the  soul  enmesh ; 
And  lacking  view  of  things  beyond  the  range 
Of  sense,  lack  Fount  that  floweth  ever  fresh ! 


And  ye  who  say  that  Sense  alone  can  know, 
And  wisdom  only  from  the  Outer  grow ! 

What  turgid  Wine  flows  in  your  Cup  of  Life 
To  hide  the  sparkle  of  the  Flood  below  ? 

42 

To  you,  in  thoughtful  hour,  the  world  must  seem 
A  hideous  nightmare,  a  hellish  dream, 

Pierc'd  here  and  there  by  rays  of  flitting  light 
That  but  confuse  the  whole  infernal  scheme. 


['9] 


RVBAIYAT      OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

43 

If  wrongs  triumph,  if  love  and  hope  go  down; 
If  God's  hand  shook  in  shaping  this  poor  clown; 

If  he  's  created  prince,  and  I  a  plod — 
Then  God's  a  cheat:  let  wine  the  trouble  drown! 

44 
The  world,  't  is  true,  seems  cruel  and  unjust, 

For  often  Virtue  dies  and  prospers  Lust! 

And  Faith  alone,  for  me,  will  not  suffice: 
I  cannot  take  so  big  a  scheme  on  trust. 

45 
I  must,  I  shall  demand  the  reason  why, 

When  woes  fall  heaviest  on  you  and  I, 

And  all  the  world  seems  framed  for  our  torment! 
Prate  not  to  me  of  Faith  and  Trust  on  High. 


RVBAIYAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

46 

What  then,  is  there  but  creedal  faith  for  man, 
Or  gloom  of  cruel  Chance  in  Nature's  plan  ? 

But  reason's  cold  and  pessimistic  doubt, 
Or  Christian  version  of  the  heathen  Pan? 

47 

Is  there  no  bright  and  sane  and  cheering  Way  ? 
No  universal  Key  by  which  men  may 

Find  Harmony  in  human  destiny? 
No  sign  of  Plan  Divine  in  Nature's  Way? 

48 

Behold  a  glory  at  the  door  of  life 
Awaits  to  banish  doubt,  and  gloom,  and  strife! 

Dame  Reason's  found  in  Cheerfulness  a  spouse, 
And  Commonsense  has  taken  Joy  to  wife. 


[21] 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

49 
The  head  and  heart  of  man  again  shall  wed ; 

The  Intellect  by  human  Love  be  led, 

To  banish  in  the  joy  of  Nature's  way, 
The  creedal  night  and  gloom  by  science  fed. 

50 
And  from  this  marriage  of  the  head  and  heart, 

A  fairer  Hope  is  born — and  lo!  the  art 

Of  being  Glad  and  True  hath  firmer  base 
Than  faith  alone  or  science  doth  impart. 


The  Heart  Light  glows  upon  the  Soul  of  Things, 
And  hidden  laws  to  mortal  ken  it  brings, 

Revealing  'neath  the  garb  of  flesh  and  form, 
Of  Nature's  Causal  Force  the  secret  springs. 


RVBAIYAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

52 
There  's  not  a  law  on  earth  of  God  for  man, 

But  mortal  eye  and  human  heart  may  scan, 

If  but  the  outer  shell  of  life  be  pierc'd 
And  Love  with  Reason  bare  the  Inner  Plan. 

53 

Thus  ev'ry  hidden  fa&  and  circumstance 
That  woe  of  man  or  happiness  enhance, 

Expression  finds  in  outward  mold  of  form — 
The  Seen  and  Unseen  cast  in  consonance ! 

54 
And  as  the  small  but  replicas  the  great, 

So  gross  and  psychic  planes  associate 

And  blend :   from  one  the  other  can  be  known 
Thus  many  a  Riddle  shall  man  translate. 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

55 

When  heart  and  mind  shall  soar  beyond  the  sense, 
And  Reason  wait  on  Soul's  omnipotence 

To  reach  the  bottom  of  the  well  of  Truth, 
And  pour  on  life  its  flood's  beneficence. 

56 

Now  darkness  broods  and  all  is  Unity, 
And  Form  is  lost  in  Night's  identity. 

A  Breath,  a  Word,  a  ripple  on  the  Wave 
Of  Time — and  Light  brings  forth  Duality! 

57 

From  cosmic  Night  and  Light  comes  Trinity — 
Religion's  everlasting  mystery: 

That  two  from  One  &  all  from  None  come  forth: 
Primordial  law  of  Solidarity! 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

58 

A  trailing  star  into  the  seeming  void 
Is  dropt  —  the  ovum  of  an  asteroid. 

A  "wanderer"  conceived,  a  world  begot! 
In  cosmic  wilderness  of  Form  devoid. 

59 
Thus  groups  of  worlds  from  out  the  starry  light, 

And  souls  of  men  in  glory  all  bedight, 

Come  trooping  down  from  out  the  Milky  Way — 
Come  to  their  Days  of  Life,  from  Cosmic  Night. 

60 

From  Time's  dark  cavern  of  tranquility, 
All  down  the  path  of  Life's  activity, 

Come  worlds  and  men  to  conquer  space  and  fate 
And  reach  the  heart  of  true  Fraternity ! 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

61 

Caught  on  the  Wheel  of  life's  necessity  — 
A  Ray  of  God  (of  All  Humanity)  — 

I  '11  murmur  not  that  I,  a  spark  of  It, 
Shall  fail  to  read  divine  Totality. 

62 

Yet  this  I  know,  but  for  myself  alone 
(Let  each  of  Truth's  array  proclaim  his  own), 

That  man  of  earth  is  Lord  and  God  supreme  ! 
Here  He  creates,  and  reaps  as  He  hath  sown. 


I  scan  the  earth,  the  sea,  and  starry  space, 
And  nowhere  find  Volition's  faintest  trace. 

All  palpitate  by  fixt  and  certain  Law  : 
Uncertainty  's  in  but  the  Human  race. 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

64 

The  will  to  Do  and  Be  in  man  I  find : 
Unfailing  sign  of  the  Creative  Mind  ! 

Here  consciousness  has  reacht  the  Godlike  stage, 
And  Nature  bows  but  to  the  human  kind. 

65 

And  in  the  Scheme  of  Things  this  mystery 
Profound  I  see:  that  man's  high  destiny 

It  is  to  consciously  produce  on  earth 
The  tie  of  Human  Solidarity. 

66 

For  that  which  Is  must  come  to  vision's  plane ; 
The  Heart  of  Truth  be  sponsored  by  the  brain. 

By  choice  shall  man  again  enacl:  on  earth 
The  Cosmic  Harmonies  that  ever  reign. 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

67 

I  cannot  see  the  Cause  its  trail  defied, 
Nor  trace  each  thought  and  acl:  to  its  effecl:. 

But  Nature's  stanch  and  true,  I  know,  and  Law 
Unfailingly  each  detail  doth  perfect. 

68 

There  is  no  "iron  hand  of  fate"  on  me, 
No  bond  but  human  solidarity  ! 

And  tho  I  pay  my  share  for  man's  false  steps, 
I  pay  no  more  than  I  alone  decree. 


Fruition  is  the  name  of  human  Fate  : 
No  super-being  doth  Predestinate. 

Each  sows  the  seed  that  time  for  him  shall  reap; 
Each  instant  doth  each  soul  its  life  create! 


RVBA1YAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

70 

Who  look  behind  the  veil  of  life  shall  see 
That  man  himself  carves  out  his  destiny; 

That  fate  is  but  the  reaping  of  the  sown, 
And  man  alone  e'er  writes  his  own  decree. 


LAW  limits  but  to  rule  of  Harmony  — 
That  ev'ry  Cause  its  full  Effect  shall  see. 

And  in  the  reaping  each  his  pleasure  takes  — 
The  Cup  he  drains  in  gloom,  or  Cheerfully. 

72 

If  then  the  fleeting  hour  of  Now  and  Here 
Eternal  record  of  each  hope  and  fear 

And  thought  and  act  mark  on  the  warp  of  Time, 
Futurity  is  mine!  I'll  drop  no  tear. 


09] 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

73 

LAW  binds  all  things  to  Rationality: 
No  other  limit  on  man's  will  I  see  — 

That  2  plus  2  are  4  and  never  more. 
Why  wail  at  this  Inflexibility? 

74 

"The  Moving  Finger  writes;  and  having  writ, 
Moves  on:"  but  why  should  man  of  Godlike  wit 
And  all  Futurity  at  his  command, 

Seek  to  evade  or  lose  a  word  of  it? 
« 

75 

And  this  I  seem  to  see,  that  man  and  men 
Achieve  by  using  Law!   All  power  then, 

Is  theirs  who  wisely  use,  nor  waste  in  vain 
The  Cosmic  force  that  lies  in  human  ken. 


[30] 


RVBA1YAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

76 

Each  thought  and  a&,  tho  "good"  or  "ill"  they  be, 
Sure  guiding  stars  for  all  eternity ! 

O,  ye  who  sail  life's  sea  sans  chart  or  map, 
Turn  to  the  scroll :  thy  compass  it  will  be. 

77 

If  Fate  is  but  the  fruitage  of  the  sown, 
And  ev'ry  hope  and  deed  bring  forth  their  own, 

Why  then  it  rests  with  me,  not  to  undo 
The  Past,  but  carve  the  New — with  me  alone! 

78 

Who  mourns  the  past  or  would  the  scroll  unwrit, 
Hath  yet  to  learn  that  human  growth  is  knit 

On  woof  and  warp  of  all  experience. 
All  colors,  too,  must  enter  into  it. 


[3'] 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

79 
If  woven  in  the  fabric  of  a  life, 

No  move  is  false,  nor  failure  loss;  nor  strife, 
Nor  grief,  nor  sin,  can  mar  the  perfect  plan 
And  pattern  of  a  striving  human  life. 

80 

Like  beads  upon  a  Thread  men's  lives  are  cast, 
Each  Day  of  Life  a  bead.  The  first  and  last 

Are  strung  the  same,  and  all  the  beads  on  all 
The  Threads  will  look  alike  at  last  when  mass'd. 

81 

Some  wear  a  golden  bead  this  Day  of  Life, 
And  some  the  ruddy  hues  of  war  and  strife, 

Whilst  many  dull  and  somber  beads  give  tone 
Of  doubt  and  grief  in  modern  life  so  rife. 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

82 

Thus  he  the  Beggar  now  and  I  the  Sheik: 
TOMORROW  he  the  Sultan,  whilst  I  seek 
The  mystery  of  life  in  devious  paths 
And  learn  upon  the  Thread  my  heart  to  keep. 

IS 

The  bead  I  wear  I  '11  furbish  for  myself, 

Nor  seek  to  garnish  it  with  stolen  pelf. 

The  bead  I  wear  transparent  I  will  make, 
And  let  the  Thread  shine  thru — reveal  my  Self. 

84 

O,  beads  and  beads  of  lives  and  lives  untold! 
What  wisdom  for  us  all  your  orbits  hold, 

When  human  hearts  and  minds  are  fixt  upon 
The  Thread,  and  read  the  secrets  that  ye  hold! 


[33] 


RVBAIYAT      OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

85 
Ah,  many  chipt  and  broken  beads  I  see! 

Distorted  lives,  by  man's  uncharity; 

Cheap  tawdry  beads  and  beads  of  muddy  glass, 
Strung  on  the  Thread  of  Life  by  man's  decree. 

86 

Blind  laws  and  customs  of  the  rule  of  greed, 
Still  wrecking  human  life  and  planting  seed 

That  only  thankless  toil  and  weariness 
Can  grow  for  millions  doomed  by  man  to  need ! 

87 

Blind  laws  that  heap  on  some  what  none  create, 
And  give  the  few  what  Nature  doth  donate — 

The  earth  and  treasures  of  the  mines,  nor  man 
His  industry  nor  genius  can  create. 


[34] 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

88 

Blind  laws  by  man  himself  alone  decreed: 
Stale  customs  that  on  slavery  still  feed, 

Defying  Cosmic  Law  and  spoiling  life 
To  foster  selfishness  and  private  greed! 


Blind  laws  that  parcel  to  the  "lucky"  few 
Those  values  that  from  common  toil  accrue! 

Dire  laws  of  greed  and  graft  that  take  from  All 
And  lavish  where  no  work  or  worth  make  due! 

90 

Laws  reeking  with  the  lust  of  wolfish  pack, 
That  ev'ry  attribute  of  Justice  lack, 

That  nourish  vice  and  craft  and  weigh  upon 
The  weak  like  senescence  on  Sinbad's  back. 


[35] 


RVBAIYAT      OF     CHEER  FVLNESS 

91 
Blind  and  withering  laws  that  soon  must  go, 

As  man  his  cruel  childhood  doth  outgrow : 

Cain's  code  of  greed  to  Get  and  Have  and  Hold 
That  which  the  strongest  must  'erlong  let  go! 

92 

And  hearts  of  men  bow'd  low  with  years  of  gain, 
With  only  gold  for  all  their  moil  and  pain, 

Go  to  their  Longer  Sleep  with  halting  step  — 
/  will  not  say  their  Day  of  Life  was  vain. 

93 
And  hearts  of  men  are  sore  of  strife  for  gain. 

It  matters  not  tho  all  their  toil  be  vain ; 

The  years  grow  wearisome  for  all  who  fix 
Their  hearts  upon  the  shining  golden  grain. 


[36] 


RVBAIYAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

94 

But  life  expands  with  Giving,  and  years  crown 
Usefulness  with  peace;  e'en  funeral  gown 

Hath  pockets  that  will  carry  golden  deeds 
From  life  to  life:   for  Worth  age  wears  no  frown. 

95 
When  on  the  altar  of  the  Common  Good 

Men  lay  their  hope  of  Gain  from  laws  withstood 

For  private  ends  and  mercenary  greeds, 
Then  dawns  the  reign  of  Social  Brotherhood. 


When  All  have  equal  Opportunity 
To  work  and  reap:  there  is  no  charity 

So  great!   When  men  shall  hold  their  mother  Earth 
Intact,  in  trust  for  all  humanity! 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

97 

Full  long  Dame  Reason's  scorned  the  Human  Heart 
And  man  has  lived  on  maxim's  of  the  mart. 

The  Key  that  will  unlock  all  Doors  for  him 
Lies  in  the  marriage  of  the  Head  and  Heart. 


Not  all  the  Grape  that  flows  from  gold  to  red 
A  light  on  human  destiny  e'er  shed. 

'T  is  Wine  of  Life  mixt  with  the  Heart's  best  blood, 
By  which  the  wandering  feet  of  men  are  led. 

99 

And  tho  the  "Grape  with  logic  absolute" 
Confute  the  creed  and  ism,  man's  attribute 

Of  sympathy  and  hunger  for  the  Heights, 
Unfed  remain  for  all  the  wine  of  fruit. 


RVBAIYAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 


100 


For  Man  is  not  the  Jar  that  drinks  red  wine, 
Nor  flesh  that  presses  lips  incarnadine. 

Give  Youth  its  mede  of  effervescing  flood, 
But  Men  crave  stronger  Drink  than  fruit  of  vine. 


101 


'T  is  true  that  never  "blows  the  Rose  so  red" 
As  where  Truth's  pioneers  have  lived  and  bled. 

On  Calvary  is  human  progress  fixt, 
And  crown  of  thorns  press  on  the  toiler's  head. 


IO2 


MEN  do  not  mourn  that  Thorns  with  Roses  grow, 
Nor  for  the  chance  of  prick  or  scratch  forgo 

The  fragrance  and  the  beauty  of  its  bloom. 
No  blossom  as  the  Rose  doth  lure  men  so. 


[39] 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

103 

MEN  bless  the  Rose  for  growing  on  the  Thorn, 
And  hope  to  see  its  lovely  flow'r  adorn 

Each  Thorn  that  grows  on  human  life's  highway, 
Each  troubled  hour  by  Roses  overborne. 

104 

"  But  Roses  come  and  go !  "  Ah,  that 's  the  lie 
Which  robs  life  of  its  Joy  —  that  Roses  die 

And  leave  the  heart  forlorne.  JT  is  only  Form 
That  comes  and  goes — the  Rose  to  vivify! 

105 

Crush  not  the  Rose  in  heedlessness  or  lust : 
Bruis'd  Roses  wither  soon,  and  turn  to  dust. 
It  is  the  Rose  within  the  Rose  that  brings 
Perfume  to  life  —  O,  pluck  it,  if  you  must! 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 

1 06 

But  having  pluckt  your  Rose — or  cast  the  Tang 
Into  your  Cup  of  Life,  curse  not  the  Fang, 

Nor  whimper  as  you  drain  the  Karmic  Brew : 
Its  Bitterness  is  lost  in  Paean  sang. 

107 

Half  the  gloom  of  life  lies  in  the  Quaffing; 
CUP  was  never  brew'd  with  all  Pang  lacking. 

Groans  ease  no  pain  and  frowns  resolve  no  doubt: 
Stand,  and  drink  your  Cup  with  eyes  a-laughing. 

1 08 

So  many  Roses  on  the  Way  of  Life! 
And  yet  so  few!  and  yet  the  world  so  rife 

With  war  and  gain  and  greed  that  Roses  die 
Unseen  and  crusht  beneath  the  human  strife. 


RVBAIYAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

109 

The  Rose  that  buds  and  blows  in  open  air — 
So  willingly  it  grows,  so  free  and  fair! 

Its  fragrance  and  its  beauty  blessing  all 
Who  take  and  leave  it! — growing  everywhere! 

I  10 

Roses  pluckt  and  crusht  with  lust  of  owning — 
Lust  of  hoarding,  hiding,  and  providing 
Charnel  houses  for  the  dust  of  empty 
Shells!  —  mad  lust  that  immolates  the  living. 

1 1 1 

They  say  that  This  or  That  man  cannot  know, 
That  only  vintage  of  the  fruits  that  grow 

In  soil  can  wisdom  bring — because  on  Form 
Alone  man  's  lookt,  two  thousand  years  or  so. 


RVBAIYAT      OF      CHEERFVLNESS 


I  12 


With  telescope  in  vain  man  has  peer'd  out, 
Nor  microscope  has  helpt  resolve  his  doubt. 
He  turns  at  last  to  look  within  Himself, 
And  there  finds  wisdom  not  extant  without. 


Thus  looking  In  this  FACT  he  shall  perceive, 
That  creeds  and  systems  all  confuse,  deceive; 

That  Truth  is  like  a  Diamond  in  the  sky, 
And  from  its  rays  each  Soul  its  hope  MUST  weave. 

114 

Man  can  delay,  but  not  avoid  this  Must: 
In  vain,  in  vain,  he  lean  and  trust: 

Each  Soul  finds  joy  and  peace  within  himself, 
For  Time  is  long  and  Law  All  things  adjust. 


RVBAIYAT     OF     CHEERFVLNESS 

US 

One  ray  I  catch  from  flashing  Stone  of  Fate  — 
That  Hand-in-Hand  shall  men  storm  Heaven's  Gate; 

That  none  shall  in  the  nether  world  be  cast, 
And  none  shall  early  be,  and  none  Too  Late. 

116 

That  each  and  all  shall  share  whatever  pass, 
As  toward  the  Pearly  Gates  they  move  en  masse-, 

That  every  Soul  a  Conscious  God  shall  be, 
And  that,  at  last,  you'll  find — no  "Empty  Glass"! 


SO  HKRK    KNDKTH  \ht.RUBAITAr  OF 
CHEERFULNESS,  being  a  book  of  verses  that 
body  forth  Some  Reasons  why  men,  &  eke  women, 
who,  tho  lacking  faith  in  creed  &  ism,  yet  shall  find 
Love  in  Nature,  and  finding  shall  not  turn  faces  to 
the  wall  &  curse  God,  nor  weep  "this  sorry  Scheme 
of  Things  entire,"  but  keep  their  sweetness  &  their 
reason  and  be  Cheerful  most  all  the  time. 
^Set  in  Caslon  types  and  five  hundred  copies 
printed  &  bound  at  the  shop  of  the  GOLDEN  PRESS 
which  is  in  the  fair  southland  city  of  Los  Angeles 
and  the  Golden  State  of  California  in  the  year 
of  the  Christian  Era  nineteen  hundred  and  seven 
in  the  month  of  November. 


UNIVERSITY   J 

.... 


YC  14459 


